What is Inter-Linkages?

The WSSD's main focus is on its action plan, with the aim to implement commitments made at several international conferences since Rio in 1992, in order to foster sustainable development. With the same intention, the Inter-linkages Initiative seeks to promote enhanced coordination among multilateral environmental agreements to support a more integrated approach to environmental management and implementation at national, regional and international levels. Better implementation of existing environmental mechanisms does not necessarily need new instruments but a stronger coherence among tools already available. Therefore, applying inter-linkages can be very time- and cost-effective approach.

Introduction

Over the past 50 years, numerous multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) have been established. Each agreement has customarily been designed to address a pressing environmental issue. As a result, some agreements support and strengthen the aims of others, while others possess objectives that overlap and contradict one another. The call for better coordination and harmonization between MEAs during negotiation and implementation stages is increasing. It is recognized that such efforts could promote the elimination of contradictions, avoid overlaps, and boost national capacity. Despite increased awareness surrounding the benefits of such actions, efforts to maximize synergies between agreements are generally not undertaken when plans are implemented.

There have been a number of first steps towards effective implementation of inter-linkages; among them have been efforts by UNEP, UNDP and the UNU. Most notably, environmental sustainable development efforts have been translated from the UN Conference on Environmental Development into the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD), and the Forestry Principles. A prolific amount of physical and structural linkages exist between these MEAs and related implementing regimes. However, by its very nature, inter-linkages is a vast concept with an enormous scope. Often, due to the complexity of the issues, efforts to link MEA implementation are not customarily engaged. Such efforts may result in limiting conflicts, take advantage of commonalities, reduce duplication of work, and generally result in implementation gains. In an effort to enhance understanding and knowledge surrounding inter-linkages and to develop practical tools to foster synergistic implementation, work on this issue is greatly needed.

In response to the issues identified, the UNU initiated the Inter-linkages Initiative. The outputs of the UNU initiative include: (i) Applied research and case studies; (ii) Policy dialogues and workshops; (iii) Capacity development activities; (iv) Information management and virtual networking; (v) Process consulting and policy design. Activities are chosen based on the willingness of national governments to participate and in partnership with governmental, intergovernmental, regional, and sub-regional organizations, MEA secretariats, NGOs and academic institutions. Its aim is to jointly develop integrated approaches for the development of comprehensive synergistic frameworks for national, local, and international MEA stakeholders.

Linking National and Regional Levels

Since 1997, the UNU has been engaged in research on inter-linkages. Subsequently, numerous other initiatives at the international level have been initiated both between convention secretariats and within institutions like UNEP, most prominently lead by the Environment Ministers Forum looking at International Environmental Governance (IEG) and the UNEP Division on Environmental Conventions.

Most recently, the focus has been on the clustering of conventions, with the IEG asking UNEP to conduct a case study on the clustering of the chemical conventions, Basel and the Montreal Protocol. Through a UNU review of the implementation of the Rio Conventions and their inter-linkages in the ESCAP region, however, we realized that the biggest challenges to environmental governance, particularly with regards to these MEAs, are at the national and regional levels.

Therefore, efforts to enhance synergies at the global level must continue, while challenges and opportunities for enhanced coordination at the regional and national levels also need to be addressed. Implementing global MEAs often requires regional frameworks and cooperative action plans between neighboring countries. National governments might know best which issues they prioritize and which of these should be linked. Consequently, opportunities for regional coordination should be kept in mind, when addressing issues at national levels.

In order to determine these local challenges, the UNU undertook a series of national and regional case studies in the Asia and the Pacific with the cooperation of the ASEAN Secretariat, and the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP). These studies are now almost complete and reports are to be made available during the run up to the Johannesburg Summit and at the WSSD itself.

These case studies have been recognized as a reliable means to provide concrete examples of how inter-linkages principles may be operationalized at the policy as well as executive level. The lack or weaknesses of national policies, legal and institutional arrangements and human resource capabilities might prove to be obstacles to effective negotiation, ratification and implementation of MEAs.

The Inter-linkages Initiative will therefore assist cooperating countries and regions:
• in assessing their implementation of MEAs;
• to identify constraints; and
• to propose solutions towards effective implementation of MEAs.

The overall goal is to strengthen national governance structures and promote regional cooperation in the negotiation, ratification, and implementation of MEAs by identifying inter-linkages and synergies both between MEAs as well as between different national institutions involved in their implementation. The studies cover policy priorities, strategy and planning, institutional and legal frameworks, financing, scientific mechanisms, capacity building, information and data, communications, networking, outreach, and stakeholder participation.

UNU’s Strategic Role

Various inter-linkages related decisions have been taken at a number of MEA MOPs/COPs (e.g. CITES, UNFCCD, UNFCCC) and several MEA secretariats have initiated inter-linkages programmes and planning. However, at present, ‘inter-linkages’ remains an illusive and abstract concept that is, for the most part, understood only in terms of a broad overarching principle. Work is therefore required to develop a greater level of understanding at the level of practical implementation.

The UNU is an academic institution that acts as a research and capacity building organ of the UN; it is thus in an ideal position to facilitate a deeper understanding of the concept of inter-linkages through various research and educational activities. In particular, the UNU possesses the unique advantage of having conducted various conferences and international workshops on Inter-linkages. Activities have also been designed to contribute to the development of model implementation frameworks for use at regional and national levels, and between issues that overlap and possess the potential to cause conflict between the objectives of different MEAs. Capacity building efforts, including measures to enhance awareness building, MEA negotiation and implementation, are also key to the strategy.